There's a New Girl in Town
by obsidians
Summary: When a gift from a friend allows Ryoga to lose his pig side forever, he finds himself considering new opportunities to win Akane's love. Rated M
1. Chapter 1

Ryoga had more or less given up on Akane when she'd followed Ranma to the same university after graduation. He was hurt that she'd never discovered, let alone knew of his love for her. He'd eventually put her love for him as a pig aside and decided to get on with his life. He still felt he had a shred of hope by the fact that she still hadn't married Ranma, despite having lived with him for four years.

Neither of them were the heirs to the dojo anymore, that honour had went to Dr. Tofu when he'd married Kasumi. However the wily doctor had a trick or two up his sleeve. Dr. Tofu had no intention of taking over the dojo and had made a bargain with Ranma that he would turn over the running of it to him if Ranma got a proper education of at least a gym teacher certification. So putting his nose to the grindstone, Ranma had applied himself to his studies and had even repeated some courses in order to get his grades up. Upon graduation, he'd been accepted by a small university that offered him an athletic scholarship, of course that meant that most of the fiancées applied and were accepted to the same school. Akane had chosen to go there because she was offered an academic scholarship and her best friends were attending to.

Ryoga had called his actually home one day and to his astonishment his parents were there. They immediately had wired him funds for a bus ticket and their non-directionally challenged neighbour had gone to pick him up. Once he was home, his parents had insisted that he return to school. When his former classmates knew he was back in their midst, they'd kindly arranged for someone to always walk him to where he had to be so that he never missed a day of school.

Ryoga had pondered long and hard about what sort of career would be good for someone who could be in Tokyo one minute and Paris the next. It had to be something where he could work from any place in the world and preferably be self employed so he wouldn't have to search for his workplace. He had no idea about what to do, until a friend of his suggested web design, so he'd signed up for a few courses and was pleased to discover he had a flair for it. Once he'd mastered all that he could, he went to college for something else that interested him: game design. This enthralled him, so once he graduated; he worked as an independent web designer and developed video games in his spare time. He was much sought after and carried a top of the line laptop with him at all times so he literally could work from anywhere. He would complete his assignments on time and his clients would deposit his money directly into his account. It wasn't a bad life, but he longed to have someone to share it with and thought of Akane.

He won recognition when his game, 'Get Lost' that he'd based on his own experiences became popular. It was then that he discovered that there were others like him, who shared his strange genetic flaw, when one of them contacted him. Ryoga had been astonished to find out that there was a chat room forum that was dedicated to people like himself. They were all accepting of each other and supportive. They all joked that they would never host a convergence anywhere because they would never find the location. Ryoga worked on the problem and designed GSP bracelets for his friends and a program that allowed people to draw the layout of their houses for other members to log into to and guide them. This helped a lot for people trapped in their own closets of bathrooms. One of the more affluent members sent Ryoga a guide dog that worked kind of like how it does a blind person, but the members of the Lost Boys...and Girls (as the chat forum was termed) had to use just a regular leash. This worked out well because Ryoga loved dogs and liked having a pet, seeing it was a female dog, Ryoga called it Ranma. The name just seemed to suit.

Ryoga at twenty wasn't the same person he'd been at sixteen, gaining friends he wasn't as angst ridden as he'd been. Plus living with his parents had stabilized his environment and he'd gotten help for his depression. Now he was a calm young man who longed to get ahead in life and was successful in his chosen profession.

For travel websites, he'd started using pictures he'd taken on his travels in getting lost and was surprised when someone had contacted him to ask him where he'd gotten them. As she owned a gallery, she'd featured some in her show and they'd sold quite well, giving Ryoga yet another career as a photo artist. Yes he was on top of the world...and still missed Akane.

Ryoga smiled when he got the package from China that his directionally challenged friend, Frank had sent him while honeymooning there. He frowned when it contained a bottle of water and a letter.

He picked up the letter and read it:

"Dear Ryoga,

Just wanted to say hi from China.

Annie and I love it here, it's so beautiful.

I got lost when I went to the bathroom in a restaurant one night and ended up in that place you told me about, Jusenkyo. Likely I was wearing my bracelet so I bunked with the friendly guide and his daughter to wait for Annie to find me (he told me a funny story about almost cooking you btw. Yes he does remember you). While waiting, he gave me a tour of the springs and when he showed me the one that you always raving about wanting water from and I..."

Ryoga's eyes flew to the bottle at the implication; it was like he'd been struck by lightening. With a whoop of joy he impulsively wrenched open the bottle and doused himself with it...and remained human! Ryoga started jumping for joy until he noticed an odd pain in his chest when he did this. He looked down to find that his normally impressive pecs had been replaced by a pair of huge breasts. He went to a mirror and gasped. The girl in front of him was just a tall as himself, but had a beautiful oval face with bee stung lips, long tawny coloured hair that was a riot of curls that reached her lower back, cat shaped eyes the colour of new pennies and a sun kissed olive complexion.

With a trembling hand he picked up the letter and read the rest:

"I was disappointed to find out that it had dried up, so I asked about what other human ones there were and decided that you wouldn't want to be a wimpy priest, so I got some out of the spring of the drowned young girl instead. I thought it would be easier on you when it rained, at least you could still talk. Naturally I'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to use it or not.

Gotta run now, Annie wants to go to try on Chinese clothes after I post this. I'll chat with you when I get back.

Frank"

Ryoga sighed and looked at himself...herself again. With trembling hands she removed her clothes and stood naked before the mirror. He had to admit that his female side was astonishingly attractive; she was tall and willowy with a dancer's body, only top heavy. She was slim of hip and when she turned, she noticed that her bottom was on the small side with just enough curve to identify it as belonging to a woman. She smiled and said "fuck me gently with a chainsaw" and was surprised to find out that her female voice was low and smoky and wouldn't have been out of place if heard on a phone sex line.

Now that she'd gotten used to her radically changed appearance, she found herself admiring her long flawless legs and proud curves. A slight smirk graced her features as she stroked the short tawny fur that covered her sex and allowed her hand to drop away while she thought about possibilities of what to do with this new body. Such as using it to entice another raven haired aqua transsexual away from his intended until Akane turned to Ryoga's male side for the comfort of an old friend...


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is dedicated to DaisukeFox who helped me write this chapter with his suggestions when I was stuck with the writers block that normally occurs when writing someone/ a situation I normally don't. He is beyond a doubt a great Ryoga writer, even with my strange version of him here. I appreciate you both for your zany sense of humour and your wicked story ideas. Here's to my bestest writing partner. Cheers!

The Ryoga seated in front of his computer was a much different one than usual. For one, he was in his girl form and wore well designed women's clothes.

Unlike, Ranma who used his female form as just an extension of his martial arts or to cadger what he wanted out of gullible men, Ryoga had researched his woman side.

First of all, he'd gotten a make over and taken modeling lessons to learn how to move and dress convincingly as a woman. So he'd learned the ropes, from how to walk in high heeled shoes (something he didn't much care to do) and to how to do makeup. The makeup made his already attractive female form look like a doll, so he decided she didn't need any with her flawless complexion, dangerous bone structure and arresting eyes.

The next step was learning what sort of clothes flattered her body and learning how to shop on her own. The result was that she turned heads in the street; this caused her to strut her stuff a bit at the attention. When she'd graduated from the modeling class along with the plainer genetic women, the teacher had serendipitously slipped her a card for a modeling agency. Ryoga, who called his female side Ryoko when in that form, had kindly thanked her and dropped it in the nearest trash. She had no interest in becoming a model.

Once the look was complete, Ryoko then concentrated on finding out what women thought like and had joined social clubs to find out, not sex clubs or anything so outlandish, just book clubs, dinner clubs wine tasting, knitting etc.

Remembering Ranma's love of food, Ryoga had signed up for cooking classes and had graduated with top honours. Soon she would be ready.

Once she'd learned how to act like a woman and conquered the womanly arts, she took it up a notch and learned how to flirt with men by speed dating. She not only got lots of numbers, but some marriage proposals as well.

With only one more thing to accomplish, she ordered a book by Betty Dodson (she writes famous masturbation books) on self loving and blushingly learned that her body did indeed response well to sexual stimulation as she brought herself to orgasm as a woman for the first time in her life.

The end result was a well dressed young woman who was confident in her looks and secure in her sexuality. Ryoga himself was nothing if not straight, but as Ryoko in a female brain, she found herself admiring muscular young men. This disturbed her a little.

Finally she felt ready to see Ranma and hacked into the databases to get more information about him. She was surprised to discover that he was achieving quite good marks in his courses; he lived in an apartment with three male roommates and held down the job of assistant coach at a local school...and as a waitress in a café. Ryoga was amused to find out that he worked there as his female side. She could only imagine what he was like now. His male side had wore flattering Chinese clothes while back in Nerima and naturally, so did his female side naturally by extension.

However when Ranma had dressed up in the past to disguise herself, her ensemble choices were often rather laughable. Ryoga found himself bursting into laughter at the memory of the hot pink sack-like dress she'd worn when posing as Ryoga's fiancée.

Ryoko then hacked into his home computer and learned lots of things about him, she blushed to discover that he had some porn hidden in a file marked 'recipes'

The next step was to hack into the rest of his competition's computers, save for Akane as Ryoga felt that it would be too much of an invasion of privacy to hack into hers...that and he was afraid what he might find. It was an easy task to get into their systems. given that all of the girl's passwords were Ranma and Kuno's was Pigtailed girl Akane. Ukyou wrote romantic poetry and that was directed at both forms of Ranma. This wasn't too shocking for Ryoga, but he also happened to find her recipes for her secret sauces and downloaded a copy of them. To Ryoga's amusement, he found out that Shampoo, who had moved with the other Amazons and opened a restaurant in Ranma new town, was sleeping with Mousse. He also found her file of recipes for ramen and copies those too. Kodachi's files contained doctored photos of Ranma making love with her in various poses, these gave Ryoga a nosebleed. They were obviously Ranma's head on another body, the body displayed was too thin to be the real article. As for Kuno, his folders displayed even worse poetry than Ukyou's and slide shows of Akane and Ranma when they were obviously sixteen. Ryoga deduced that he hadn't been able to get new photos since Nabiki had moved elsewhere to attend university.

Ranma pondered the merits of each girl, Shampoo with her sugar coated voice and seductive ways, held the monopoly on sexy of the fiancées. Ukyou with her natural girl-next-door good looks and friendly ways was the perfect combination of almost masculine best friend and kid sister. Kodachi meanwhile was cute and determined to win Ranma by showing how domestically skilled she was. Meanwhile Akane had a fiery temper that Ranma seemed to like in a girl. So what sort of girl would he go for if given a choice in the matter without his various tag-alongs vying for his attention? Finally Ryoga knew that he could take the attributes of all four and combine them into one perfect woman. Ryoga had an edge that the others didn't possess. He knew that Ranma was more comfortable in the company of men and that's where his male side would come in handy. By presenting Ryoko as a non-threatening female martial art tomboy, she could sneak under his defenses...and into his heart.

Now that she knew her game plan, the next step was to find an apartment and register for a couple of courses at the university. Ryoga chose a large commercial studio apartment that was open concept because the less walls, the better and moved into the new town. She furnished it simply as she normally did, but made sure she got a top of the line futon with frame and designer sheets with enough thread counts to make a queen jealous.

Finally she was ready to face him in person and carefully chose clothes out of her new female wardrobe. She chose a pair of cherry coloured bra and panties that went great with her olive complexion. She pulled over them a pair of black jeans that looked wonderful on her long legs and a red sleeveless accordion fold top that molded to her torso like a dream. Finally she pulled on a pair of flat knee high boots; the result was both causal but dramatic. For emphasis she sprayed some hairspray into her hair to make it into a Farrah Fawcett type tousle.

Putting Ranma on her leash, Ryoko turned on the sound of her GSP bracelet and let the direction savvy dog lead her in the direction of the campus baseball diamond. She knew from reading Ranma's emails that he had permission to spar there from the dean of the campus. It was a causal sort of gathering that a lot of martial artists attended to show off their skills and their friends came to watch.

She stopped and had a seat with the crowd; even quietly seated she drew attention from the males present. She scanned the participants and quickly picked out Ranma. He'd grown taller and broader, but it was definitely him. He taken off his shirt and his undershirt molded to each dip and crevice of his impressive torso. His boyishly handsome face had leaned into his adult features of hard jaw and high cheekbones. He now looked more deadly and desirable with his flashing eyes and full lips. Even Ryoko found herself admiring him, until she caught herself and blushed. She was embarrassed that she'd been attracted to him and blamed it on female hormones.

She watched him spar and saw that he hadn't lost any of his fighting skills in that time. Although they sparred just for fun according to the rules, obviously Ranma did so to win. Ryoko however looked for weaknesses in his defenses and actually could see a few now that she'd spent a couple of months as Soun Tendo's student learning their style. Not that he'd known it was Ryoga he was teaching. Ranma she knew from experience that Ranma was too cocky and often got carried away. She rolled her eyes to see his fan club was made up of Shampoo, Ukyou and Kodachi. All had gotten older, but still obviously no wiser as they all got into verbal fights about who was allowed to bring him a towel or water. From where she was sitting, it seemed like Ranma had his own harem. Yet he seemed oblivious to them as usual and even annoyed at the public display they were making.

Seeing that Ranma had just taken out his last opponent, he inquired in a brash voice if there were any other takers.

That's when she stood up. "I challenge you" she said.

Ranma looked in surprise at the gorgeous young woman and quickly dismissed her.

"Sorry I don't fight girls" he said.

"What's the matter, lard ass, afraid you can't take me?" she taunted and people gasped at the insult.

Ranma flew into a rage "what did you call me?" he demanded, his blue eyes blazed with anger.

Ryoko smirked at him; she knew all of his weakness: his inability to back down from a challenge, that he was a bottomless pit...and that he was very vain about his appearance for starters. "I mean is that your ass or a bag full of chili cheese dogs? How do you drag that huge thing around? You should slap a sign on it that reads 'caution wide load'" she said with a sneer in her voice. She was rewarded by the crowd snickering at this, while Ranma turned bright red.

"There's nothing wrong with my rear!" he snarled.

"Only that it could cover all of Tokyo if you sat on it" she fired back, moving closer to him.

"Okay girly, you want to fight? You got one" he said taking his stance. "Don't expect me to go easy on you"

"Nor I on you, prepare to get your huge ass kicked by a girl" she said sliding easily into hers. Ryoko wasn't as strong as her male form, but she was incredibly strong for a woman and she counted on Ranma underestimating her strength. The two of them moved in perfect harmony as if they'd choreographed their fight as they kicked, punched and blocked in perfect harmony.

Ranma had to admit that he was impressed by the unknown female's abilities as a martial artist. "You're pretty good" he called to her.

"Better than you lard ass" she called back while she executed a roundhouse kick that sent her curls flying. Ranma managed to block it. She knew that her eyes glowed with excitement as she got into sparring. Sparring with someone the skill level of Ranma was a beautiful thing.

Ranma leaped forward to try and push her down, only to accidently rip her top off. He gasped and just managed to avoid her next punch when he was distracted by the most beautiful pair of breasts he'd ever scene being hugged by a dainty red lace bra that would have brought Happosai to his knees. Ranma gulped that it was semi transparent and he could see her large, dark nipples straining against it.

"Eyes on my face pervert" Ryoga taunted, glad that she could turn Ranma's normal distraction technique back on him. Ryoga didn't really care who was watching, she didn't see the nosebleeds in the crowd.

Ranma dodged her next hit, d-don't you want to cover up?" he stammered trying to keep his eyes from her flat stomach, svelte waist and firm breasts.

"Sure after I kick your lard ass" she said and stopped holding back, she had been using only one quarter of her strength until now and threw it all into her next punch, which landed solidly on Ranma's jaw and he dropped down like a sack of wheat.

The last thing Ranma heard was his fiancées crying out. When he came to, his first sight was a pair of huge breasts. "Are you alright?" he heard a voice say and looked up into the angelic face of their owner, but not before noting that even though she was bent over him that they didn't sag in the least.

"What happened?" he asked as she helped him sit up.

"She kicked your ass like she said she would" a voice piped up with a snicker.

"Ranma, defeated by a girl" his teammate said.

He blushed and then turned to her "who are you?" he asked her suspiciously with narrowed eyes. "Are you another fiancée or a foe?"

She laughed and stood up "how many fiancées do you have? I'm neither. My name is Ryoko" she went over to where his shirt was and slipped into it, but left it open. It was large on her and this caused Ranma to think of how women in the movies would wear their love interest's shirts after making love. The image was disturbingly erotic to him. With her wild hair it looked like she'd been making love all night long. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow your shirt, a lady can't walk around in only a bra you know" she said and went to retrieve a dog that was sitting quietly under the stadium.

The other fiancées rushed to his side at that moment. "Ranma who was that jackass?" Ukyou cried.

"You steal shirt, you no can get away with it" Shampoo said advancing on Ryoko threatening.

"Stealing? I'm only borrowing it. You can pick it up at this address tomorrow" she replied, flipping a card to him. He caught it and looked at it. "Don't be late, dinner's at six" she replied and walked away after shooting him one last look over her shoulder. Ryoga smirked when she felt his eyes glued to her pert bottom. She wondered idly why Akane hadn't been there.

"Do you know that hussy?" Kodachi demanded.

Ranma looked at the card in his hand again and felt like he'd just been offered a challenge. "No I don't but I feel like I'm going to" he replied as he watched the tough-pretty irresistible woman walk down the street. He had to admit that he was intrigued by her.


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma didn't know what the mysterious girl wanted of him...or what to wear for dinner. Despite having so many fiancées, he had little experience with women. His fiancées would all turn against another woman if they thought he liked her, making it impossible for him to date. In fact he really hadn't been on a real date in his life for the same reason. There had been only the one girl...which hadn't worked out.

He had to be careful not to tip them off that he'd accepted Ryoko's challenge and was in fact, going to face her. He pondered over his clothes and wondered what to wear. Did she want to spar with him? Seduce him. Ranma got a nosebleed over this idea. He finally selected a plain black shirt that matched his pants, it had white braiding and frogs, nice but causal and old enough that he didn't worry if it got damaged. He combed out his damp hair and then put it back into his customary pigtail.

He then pondered what to bring: it was rude to show up empty handed when invited to dinner. He thought about wine, but what if she didn't drink? Flowers were out of the question because if one of the fiancées spotted him, they would think that they were for them and chaos would ensue as they battled over them. Finally Ranma went to a bakery and picked up some decadent looking chocolate pastries for dessert. Then keeping to the shadows and wearing a black trench coat with his pigtail tucked down the back and sunglasses, he made his way over to her address. He congratulated himself for managing to slip out without being followed, not seeing the small pink cat stalking his every move.

He presently reached the converted warehouse where she resided and buzzed for entry. He mused that her name was Ryoko Gisou; Gisou meaning disguise. "Who is it?" her smoky/sultry voice purred in his ear and caused him to shiver.

"Ranma" he called with a challenge in his voice.

There was a slight giggle and then she answered, "come on up" as the grating sound of a buzzer started up. Ranma caught the door and felt a little excited that he was going to see her again, she'd impressed him a little more then he cared to admit.

He took the freight elevator and walked down the stark white painted hallways until he reached her door and knocked on it. It cracked open to reveal one cooper eye, part of her kissable lips and a curl or two of her glossy hair, swooped behind one shell-like ear. Her lips curved into a smile and the door was opened the rest of the way. She wore a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a bright blue t-shirt that did wonders for her skin tone. She was barefoot, and somehow that seemed slight erotic to Ranma. "So you came? I was sure you would. You never can resist a challenge" she said with a smirk in her voice that was just friendly enough not to mock him.

"What do you want?" he demanded, shocked by how her appearance affected him. He looked around and noticed that her place, although a huge open concept studio, was sparsely furnished. One corner held an expensive looking computer set up; another was set up as a gym. There was also a loveseat, coffee table, entertainment unit with flat screen TV, a table with two chairs and futon made up the rest. She clearly wasn't a fan of walls.

"To have dinner silly" she said.

"Do I know you?" he asked her with narrowed eyes.

She shrugged "as well as you know anybody I suppose. We technically have never met before yesterday, but I was told about your superior martial arts skill and thought we should be friends. I'm new to the area and don't know anyone" she explained.

"What makes you think I want to be your friend?" he asked.

"Why not, I'm a friendly person and I think you'll find we have much in common" she replied, giving him a wide eye guileless look.

Ranma pondered this "I can't really be friends with a female, it tends to be hazardous to their health" he explained.

"Ah the famous fiancées" she replied, rolling her eyes. At his questioning look, she answered. "It's not that big a school and people love to gossip when asked the right questions" she explained.

"Why were you asking about my marital status?" he asked her.

"Well I had to make sure I wasn't getting some poor girl jealous by making her think I was coming onto her boyfriend or husband, which I'm not" she added. "When I found out you have four of them, I thought 'well then, why worry?'"

Ranma looked pained "they're a long story" he said.

"You might be quite the ladies man" she said, leading him over to the kitchen area and pouring him some wine.

"I'm not, my father got me engaged to two of them, I accidently married one and the last one is sort of tag-along" he summed it up as briefly as he could.

"Well I hope you don't mind if I don't wish to join their ranks" Kyoko said, giving him a teasing smile while she tasted her stew. She decided that comfort food would be best for their first encounter. Anything too fussy would make it look like she was trying to prove she had designs on him, so savoury beef stew with hunks of crusty homemade white bread it was.

"You don't want me?" Ranma said in a stunned voice. He wasn't used to a female inviting him places without trying to trap him into marriage.

"Sorry hot shot, no offense, but you're hardly my type and I have this" she said indicating to her ring. To lull Ranma into a false sense of security, Ryoga had joined the school's sexual purity league and had the ring to prove it.

"Oh" he said with a blush.

Ryoko served up their food and placed it on the table, "come on, your dinner's getting cold" she said in amusement. "Bring the wine" she commanded him.

Ranma found himself watching her while she ate with dainty bites... there was just something about those lips...He cleared his throat. "So your ring, does that mean...?" he flushed when he realized what he was asking her.

Ryoko raised her eyes on him "yep, I'm a virgin if that's what you want to know" she replied with a smile in her voice. "I'm not catholic or anything like that, nor do I really believe in no sex before marriage. I just think that people should save themselves for someone they really love. So you see; you're perfectly safe from me" she teased. "How about you, are you a virgin?"

Ranma blushed at how forward she was being and surprised himself by answering her. "No, there was someone, but it didn't work out" he replied.

Ryoga was so surprised that her hand tightened on her wineglass until it broke and a piece was embedded itself in her palm. 'Surely he didn't mean Akane? There was no way she would have sex before marriage, not sweet, kind, virtuous Akane. No, it had to have been someone else. Ranma had cheated on her!' raced through her mind. She barely registered when gentle fingers took her hand and she looked up into Ranma's concerned face.

"Are you okay? You're hurt!" he exclaimed as he examined her hand. Ryoga's first impulse was to punch him for how he'd cheated on Akane, but the concern on his face stopped her...and confused her. Ranma was a boorish swine who thought only of himself, then why he was acting like this about a girl he barely knew?

"It's nothing; it's just a small piece. I just need to take it out and put on a bandage" she said dismissively.

"Nonsense, I demand on helping. Where's your washroom?" he asked her.

"It's right there" Ryoga said, indicating where he'd put up the large sign for his own convenience. The hand lettered sign gave Ranma pause, but over her protests, he went into her medicine cabinet. He gently removed the glass with tweezers, washed the cut, treated it and bandaged it. This confused Ryoga some more, she wasn't used to being fussed over, nor touched so tenderly.

"Are you okay now?" Ranma softly asked.

"I'm fine, I was just a little startled to learn you weren't a virgin I guess" she said.

"Not everyone wears a ring" he said in an amused voice. "It was a while ago and I really can't tell you more than that. It wouldn't be fair to discuss this with someone without her permission" he explained.

"So you're a gentleman?" Ryoga asked, regaining her composure.

"I try to be" he said with a grin. They both cleaned up the mess and resumed eating. Once they were done, they sat on the loveseat to finish the bottle of wine.

"You're quite the woman of mystery" Ranma commented.

"Nah, I hold no secrets, ask me anything" she said, she wasn't used to drinking in her female form and was getting a little tipsy.

"You could explain why your dog keeps on looking at you whenever you say my name" Ranma observed, glancing at the golden retriever.

"Her name is Ran...Ran-Ran" Ryoko said, realizing she couldn't say that her bitch was named after Ranma himself. "I guess that sounds close to Ranma" she finished lamely. "She's my directional guide dog"

"Directional guide dog?" he asked her.

"I have a rare genetic conditional called DD or Directional Displacement. If I get lost, I could end up anywhere in the world. I have a GPS bracelet that allows me to type in an address and it will lead me there, but I often go left rather then right and vice versa. Ran-Ran hears the commands and takes me to correct way. There are people all over the world like me, we even have a website and chat forum" she explained.

Ranma looked thoughtful, "I think I once knew someone who had your condition" he mused.

"I suppose you mocked him for it" she said with venom in her voice.

Ranma looked a little unsettled at that anger in her voice. "I liked to bug him, but never about that. I thought his condition was horrible. He must have been so confused all the time. It must be frightening to be surrounded by people who give you directions that you can't follow or to buy a map that takes you nowhere" he mused.

Ryoga was confused that Ranma had this much insight into his condition. "I suppose you tried to help him?" she asked sarcastically.

"I did, his name was Ryoga Hibiki and he was once the closest I ever had to a brother and best friend. I used to lead him to school and back when we were younger, but we had a disagreement and he decided I was his enemy. It made me sad quite honestly. I would try and help him but he didn't want it. I used to worry about him and would make enquiries when he was gone too long. I even anonymously sent him a cell phone with his Nerima friend's phone numbers programmed into it, to his parent's place. I doubt he got it" Ranma supplied.

Ryoko's eyes went wide, she'd been touched by the thoughtful gift she'd received when she moved home and hadn't known who to thank for it. "So you actually liked this Ryoga?" she said.

"He was a great guy, both kind and noble, but what a temper. Still he was as stubborn as a mule and so much fun to bug" Ranma said.

"Doesn't sound like you were much of a friend to him" she pointed out.

"I guess I was a bit of a jerk. I honestly wish I could find him. I always thought we would become friends again. Have you ever encountered him on your forum?" Ranma asked her.

"No the name doesn't ring a bell" she lied.

"If you ever encounter him, could you ask him to contact me?" Ranma asked. The earnest in his voice gave Ryoga pause. Had Ranma really liked him that much? It was hard to believe, seeing how he was the most popular guy around.

"I will" she said hesitantly.

"Thanks I'd appreciate that" Ranma said with a warm smile.

Just then a distress call came from her computer. "Hello is anyone there? I'm trapped in my bathroom" a disembodied voice cried out.

"Sorry duty calls" she said and put on her headset, glad that she'd talked most of her fellow suffers into putting webcams in every room. She managed to pinpoint that it was Frank, who had just returned from his honeymoon. She stared into her own webcam and saw Frank's wide, Caucasian features staring back at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Let's just say I loved your present" Ryoga replied and winked.

"Holy shit Ryoga, you're hot" Frank said, his troubles temporarily forgotten.

"I'm Ryoko" she said with a wide, friendly smile as she pulled up his house plan. She knew a smattering of languages from being lost on her travels and could speak English fairly competently. "You're in your washroom, you need to make a left at the door, no your other left" she chided. "Good now go straight down the hall and turn right, yes good. Now have a seat on your couch and wait for Annie. Why didn't you follow your signs?"

"We had the place repainted while we were away and they didn't put them back up" he moaned.

"And your dog?" Ryoga inquired.

"Annie just went to get her from the kennel she's being boarded at" he explained.

"She shouldn't be long then. I have to go as I have a guest; I'll chat with you later. Send me copies of your honeymoon photos" Ryoga said.

"Thank you. I love your new look by the way" Frank offered.

"Hopefully my guest does too" she said and with a final wink, took off her headset. Ranma was watching the exchange and had no clue what was going on.

"Sorry about that, crisis averted. A friend was trapped in his washroom" she explained.

"That must be horrible" Ranma sympathized.

"It used to happen to me quite a bit until I got my dog and bracelet that allow me to lead a normal life. I used to get lost all the time. You kind of get used to it" she said with a shrug.

"Your parents must have worried about you when you were gone. I can't imagine how it must be for an attractive woman being lost on her own" Ranma said.

She frowned at this "they have the same problem; they insisted that I learn to defend myself early on in life. That's how I got start with martial arts" she said. "I like to think I'm pretty good. I kicked your ass didn't I?" she purred.

She was surprised when Ranma laughed good naturedly at this. "It was just luck; I won't go so easy on you the next time"

"So there will be a next time?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I can't be friend with a woman as I explained" Ranma said hesitantly.

"So why don't we be secret friends? Here's the keys to my place, call me when you want to hang out" she purred, dangling them like a carrot of temptation before his face. Ranma hesitated; there was just something about her that intrigued him. He finally took them from her. "Would you like to come for coffee tomorrow?" she suggested.

"I'm in class until four and then I have to go to work at five" he replied.

"Come over for a quickie at 4:15 then" she said with a grin.

"You're on" he replied. He blushed when she hugged him.

"Relax, friends can hug you know" she said, laughing at his reaction.

"I guess I'm not used to be hugged by a girl unless she intends to marry me" he said and surprised himself by hugging her back. Her slim but curvy body seemed to fit perfectly against his own.

"I promise not to marry you" she said and slapped him on the back before closing the door. She leaned against it and frowned when she felt a stab to guilt. She'd forgotten how nice Ranma could be when he wasn't being a braggart. Ranma when they were alone together had been a nice companion and friendly guy.

She looked down at the hand he'd bandaged, his touch had been so gentle, not at all like she'd pictured. She wondered if going ahead with her plan was a good idea...and pushed her doubts aside.

It didn't matter that Ranma seemed to have grown up and matured. Ryoga was a much better man for Akane. He would love her unconditionally and not string her along with three other girls. He had a generous income that could help in rebuilding her father's business. With the proper advertising and website, he could make her family's dojo thrive. Yes Dr. Tofu was the current owner, but once he saw Ryoga's business proposal, he was sure to accept it. Ranma could even come on board as instructor...and work for Ryoga. Ryoga grinned at the idea of having Ranma work for him. That would be so sweet! The ultimate revenge would be that Ryoga would live in the house as Akane's husband while Ranma would have to rent a room somewhere. She frowned when she heard a knock on the door and wondered if Ranma had forgotten something. She opened it and almost called out in greeting to the three amazons that were glowering at her, until she caught herself.

"May I help you?" she asked them innocently while she studied them. Cologne looked pretty much the same, Shampoo had gotten taller and her already lush body seemed to have blossomed a bit. Mousse had undergone the most changes. He still wore the same baggy outfit, but absent were his goofy glasses. His eyes were large and bright green in colour. He was pretty cute Ryoga decided. Apparently regular sex agreed with the Chinese martial artist.

"You hussy, you try and make whoopee with my airen!" Shampoo cried. She grew even more irritated when the other girl started laughing.

"Hello Xian Pu, Mu Tzu and Elder Ko Lun" she said in perfect Mandarin. They looked startled at this. "I suggest that you come inside while we determine just who your airen is" she purred and opened the door for them. Her smile was a cat-like as her voice. She was happy that she would be able to eliminate part her competition so soon.


End file.
